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Immobilization of Microalgae

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Immobilization of Enzymes and Cells

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2100))

Abstract

Several microalgae synthesize metabolites of great commercial interest. Microalgae also act as filters for wastewater N and P, heavy metals, and xenobiotic compounds. However, the cost-effective harvesting of microalgae is one of the major bottlenecks limiting the microalgal biomass applications. In this context, immobilization of algal cells has been proposed for circumventing the harvest problem as well as retaining the high-value algal biomass for further processing. In recent years, innovative approaches have been employed in the field of coimmobilization and microencapsulation, which have proved the superiority of immobilized cells over the free cells. Further, the development in the field of biosensor technology with immobilized microalgae presents an early warning device to monitor pollutants in natural waters. This chapter reviews the various applications of immobilized microalgae and addresses the specific methods concerning the production of coimmobilized beads and the protocol for construction of optical algal biosensors.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Mr. Laxuman Sharma and Mr. Akhilesh Kumar Singh for their kind technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

    Nirupama Mallick

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  1. Nirupama Mallick
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Correspondence to Nirupama Mallick .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CSIC Campus Cantoblanco, Instituto de Catalisis, Madrid, Spain

    Jose M. Guisan

  2. Institute of Biotech and Biochemical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria

    Juan M. Bolivar

  3. CIC biomaGUNE, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain

    Fernando López-Gallego

  4. Campus UAM-CSIC, Institute of Catatalysis, Madrid, Spain

    Javier Rocha-Martín

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Mallick, N. (2020). Immobilization of Microalgae. In: Guisan, J., Bolivar, J., López-Gallego, F., Rocha-Martín, J. (eds) Immobilization of Enzymes and Cells. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2100. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0215-7_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0215-7_31

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-0214-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-0215-7

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